For episode 757 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Vitali Dervoed, Founder and CEO of Ekiden. Vitali Dervoed is a tech entrepreneur and operator with over 10 years of experience across banking, fintech, capital markets, crypto infrastructure, and DeFi.

Ekiden is an institutional derivatives exchange on Canton Network. Raised $3.8M, onboarded 12+ tier-1 market makers, and grew the platform to 20,000+ users through growth marketing, referral loops, community-led acquisition, and distribution partnerships.

📣 This episode is brought to you by Sumsub.

Sumsub is a leading full-cycle verification platform purpose-built for the crypto industry, chosen by 8 out of 10 of the biggest global exchanges. It helps VASPs, exchanges, and DeFi platforms prevent fraud, stay compliant, and scale globally. From instant KYC and KYB to automated crypto transaction monitoring, as well as full Travel Rule compliance. With over 1,800+ VASPs in their Travel Rule ecosystem, their no-code platform adapts to evolving threats, market demands, and global regulations.

Trusted by over 4,000 clients in fintech and crypto, Sumsub combines blockchain intelligence, identity verification, and behavioral fraud detection in a single orchestration layer. This allows you to screen, score, and monitor at every step of the customer journey without adding friction for trusted users.

You can learn more about Sumsub at https://sumsub.com

Check out Sumsub’s YouTube channel here: https://bit.ly/SubscribeToSumsub

⏳ Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(2:13) Who is Vitali Dervoed?

(3:42) What is Ekiden?

(6:40) How derivatives improve capital efficiency

(9:34) Adoption increasing from institutions

(13:36) Japan legalizes digital assets

(15:09) What policy is still needed to support crypto exchanges?

(17:43) What is Lisbon like for crypto?

(20:24) Sumsub

(21:08) How to improve trading experience for the future?
(24:48) Ekiden website & socials

🎙 Ekiden Links:

🔗 Website: https://ekiden.fi/

🔗 X: https://x.com/ekidenfi

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ekidenfi/

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dervoied/
🔗 Telegram: https://t.me/ekiden_official

📢 Disclaimer:

None of our content constitutes, nor is intended to act as financial advice. It’s important to always do your own research and due diligence before making any investment decision. Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and carry a considerable amount of risk.